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St. Louis Techies Holding Their Own at SXSW

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ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOX) –South By Southwest isn’t just one of the world’s biggest music festivals.

It’s also a magnet for techies from across the country, who gravitate to Austin, Texas to find out what’s in the pipeline to become the next big thing. Among the startups there this week were St. Louis’s Click With Me Now.

The concept is a very simple, one-click way to share your computer screen with someone else.

As the online site Mashable described it — Explaining to your mom how to book a hotel room on Expedia, or trying to help your dad sort through all the cameras for sale on Best Buy’s website is a bit of a challenge if you’re not sitting in front of the computer with them.

Founder Brian Handrigan says Click With Me Now was dubbed one of the startups to watch, and was one of eight finalists (out of 500 applicants) who received an accelerator grant.

“It use to be if you didn’t come from the coasts or if you didn’t come from Austin people really didn’t take you seriously,” Handrigan told KMOX. “But they did a show of hands in the audience and I think half the people weren’t from a city that people recognize as being a startup cities. So St. Louis is really gaining traction.”

Among the products that first gained attention at South by Southwest: Twitter and Square, both from St. Louis native Jack Dorsey.

The weeklong festival brought about 300-thousand people into Austin that normally don’t live there.